Cigarette lighter with time lock

ABSTRACT

A time lock associated with a cigarette lighter can be set to deactivate the lighter for the set time. The time lock may be mechanically or electrically powered or powered by a combination of those forces. The time lock may operate to lock the cover of a first type lighter to the body thereof, it may prevent the depression of the flint striker lever in a second type lighter or it may, in either type of lighter, remove the compression force between the flint and the striker wheel. A counter may be associated with the time of the time lock to register the number of times the time lock is set and thus, indirectly the number of times the lighter was used.

United States Patent [191 Herr CIGARETTE LIGHTER WITH TIME LOCK Harry C.Herr, 404 Willow Road, Savannah, Ga. 31406 Filed: Aug. 23, 1971 Appl.No.: 174,119

inventor:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1965 Lowenthal 431/129 8/1972Sammut 10/1966 McLarty 431/13 1 July MD, 1973 Primary Examiner.1ohn J.Carnby Assistant Examiner-Henry C. Yuen AttorneyCushman, Darby & CushmanA time lock associated with a cigarette lighter can be set to deactivatethe lighter for the set time. The time lock may be mechanically orelectrically powered or powered by a combination of those forces. Thetime lock may operate to lock the cover of a first type lighter to thebody thereof, it may prevent the depression of the flint striker leverin a second type lighter or it may, in either type of lighter, removethe compression force between the flint and the striker wheel. A countermay be associated with the time of the time lock to register the numberof times the time lock is set and thus, indirectly the number of timesthe lighter was used.

'7 Claims, 1.0 Drawing Figures /3 M i 2 2: 5 W 1 HUN, 3

Patented July 10, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTORS Hfl/my C H532CIGARETTE LIGHTER WITH TIME LOCK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to cigarette lighters and also to devices fordiscouraging smoking.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART As the health hazards attendant uponcigarette smoking have been publicized with great energy of late by anumber of concerned individuals and groups, the numbers of substances,processes and devices for helping individuals to quit smoking havegreatly multiplied.

Many of these substances, processes and devices attempt to transform aheavy smoker almost instantaneously into a non-smoker and this abruptchange in life-style often proves so unsettling to the smoker that hequickly returns to a full habit. It is obviously, desirable therefore toprovide an efficient means for weaning smokers away from their habit,i.e., for gradually reducing the smokers consumption of cigarettes perunit of time. In this manner the chances of partial, if not complete,rehabilitation should be greatly enhanced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The applicants invention concerns a devicewhich enables a smoker to gradually lengthen the time between his smokesand thereby reduce his habit. Furthermore, withinthe psychologicallimits of the smokers desire, the applicants device acts to ensure thatthe smoker cannot cheat himself by smoking within the intervals he hasset for himself.

The applicants device comprises, essentially, a time lock which isoperably connected to and incorporated within an otherwise conventionalcigarette lighter for rendering the lighter inoperable for the time seton the time lock and means which is adjustable by the operator of thecigarette lighter for setting the timing of the time lock. Theapplicants invention also includes a counter with a visual indicatorwhich is connected to the time lock for displaying the number of timesthe time lock has been set and thus, indirectly, the number of times thecigarette lighter has been used (providing, of course, that the timelock has been energized prior to each use of the cigarette lighter).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view, partially insection, of a first'embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional end view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view, partially in section, of the side opposite to theside shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view, partially in section, of a second embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 is an end sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top sectional view taken along line C-C in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an end sectional view along line D-D in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a partial side view of a counter adapted for use with any ofthe preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial top view of the counter shown in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferredembodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to thedrawings in which the same elements are identified by the same referencenumerals.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral It) refers to a conventional cigarettelighter of the type in which a digital depression of the flint strikerlever 12 about pivot 13 causes the cover 14 to be removed from the wick(not shown) and, simultaneously, causes a flint disposed adjacent to thewick to be struck thus igniting the fuel absorbed within the wick. Thus,it is possible to deactivate the lighter 10 by restraining thedepression of lever 12 which may be restrained by the followingmechanism: Depending from the lever 12 is a locking rod 16 one end ofwhich abuts a shoulder 18 on the underside of lever 12. The rod 16 isguided by bushing 20 and .urged upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 1by spring 22. When the timer locking gear 24 is in the position shown inFIG. 1 the lower end of rod 16 registers with the locking gear slot 26which is formed in the periphery of gear 24 and adapted to receive thelower end of rod 16. Thus, in this position, the lever 12 may bedepressed since slot 26 is deep enough that lower end of rod 16 will notabut against any surface during the travel of lever 12.

When a smoker desires to inactivate the lighter 10 he merely manipulatesthe thumbwheel 28 which has a toothed circumference 30 which meshes at apoint of contact with the teeth 32 on the circumference of the timelocking gear 24. This, of course, causes gear 24 to rotate so that thelower end of rod 16 now faces a section of teeth 32 rather than slot 26,and attempts to depress the lever 12 are restrained by contact betweenrod 16 and teeth 32.

The rotation of gear 24 also energizes a standard time mechanism 34which may be conventionally powered by a battery or a spring. If thepower source is a spring, it may be rewound by therotation of gear 24through thumbwheel gear 28 and if the power source is a battery, therotation of gear 24 may close a switch to connect a motor (not shown) tothe battery (not shown).

The timer mechanism 34 which is a best seen in FIG. 2, connected to gear24 at its axle 25 then causes the gear 24 to rotate until the slot 26 isagain in registry with rod 16 and the lighter 10 is thus again capableof operation.

The amount of time during which the lighter is deactivated is indicatedby a timer scale and pointer 36 and 38, respectively, shown in FIG. 3,said pointer 38 being mechanically connected to timer mechanism 34. Thescale and pointer can be seen from without the casing 11 of the lighter10 through crystal 40. In the embodiment described above, timermechanism 34 is adjustable to settings between I and 60 minutes and thusthe scale 36 indicates this range of settings.

Turning now to the second embodiment with special reference to FIG. 4through 6, it is seen that the lighter 10' shown therein is of the typeconstruction in which a lid 42 is pivotally connected to the body 44 ofthe lighter at pivot point 43. The lid 42 must be pivoted away from theposition shown in FIG. 4 in order to expose the wick and flint assemblyand thus it is possible to deactivate lighter by locking lid 42 to body44. As can best be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6 the lid 42 has a tab 46 whichprojects in a substantially perpendicular manner from one interior wall.

When the lid locking gear 48 is in the position shown in the FIGS. 4through 6, the tab 46 can pass through the slot 50 formed in the flange52 which is annularly disposed about the periphery of the lid lockinggear 48..

When the locking gear 48 is rotated from the position shown, the flange52 is interposed above the tab 46 and thus the lid 42 cannot be removedfrom the body 44.

The locking gear 48 can be rotated by manipulation of the reset knob 54since this knob is connected to the free end of axle 56 about which thelocking gear 48 rotates. The axle 56 is mounted for rotational movementin abushing 55 which forms a portion of a side wall of the cigarettelighter body 44.

Rotation of the locking gear 48 also causes rotation of the timer outputgear 58 since the gear 48 has a toothed periphery which intermeshes withthe toothed periphery of the timer output gear 58. The rotation of gear58 is transmitted to the timer mechanism 34 by means of shaft 60 aboutwhich the gear 58 is mounted for rotation. The timer mechanism 34 isidentical to the timer mechanism discussed with respect to the firstembodiment in construction and operation and thus, it is energized bythe input from axle 60 in the manner discussed above.

When energized the timer mechanism 34 causes the gear 58 to drive thegear 48 until the slot 50' is again aligned with the tab 46 and thus thelid 42 may be tilted back from the body 44 of the cigarette lighter 10.The

amount of time during which the lid 42 will be locked to the body 44 isindicated by the time scale 36 and pointer 38 through the crystal 40,all of which are identical to elements with the same reference numeralsdiscussed above.

Turning now to FIGS. 7 and 8 a third preferred embodiment will bedescribed which can be utilized with any conventional type of lighterbut which is shown for convenience in the type lighter having a hingedlid.

In the third embodiment a flint striker wheel 62 having peripherallydisposed serrated edge 64 is rotatably mounted upon the windguard 66 ofa lighter adjacent to the wick 68 thereof.

A flint 70 is urged into contact with the serrated edge 64 by a spring72 which bears against a plate 74 and is restrained and guided withinthe tubing 76 such that rotation of the wheel 62 strikes a spark againstthe flint 70 in a conventional manner.

Since the plate 74 bears against the lever 78 which is pivoted forrotational movement about point 80, the compression upon spring 74 andthus the force with which flint 70 contacts edge 64 may be varied byrotating lever 78..

The lever 78 is urged in clockwise direction" (as viewed in'FIG. 7) bytension spring 81 which is fixed to the lever at one end and to thecasing of the cigarette lighter at its other end. Simultaneously,however, the lever 68 can be urged in the counterclockwise direction bythe cam follower 82 which is urged against the periphery of the timercam wheel 86. y

In the position shown in FIG. 7 the cam follower 82 is received withinthe slot 90 within the timer can wheel 86 and thus the force of spring81 is essentially unopposed so that the lever 78 is rotated to theposition shown. In this position a maximum compression is exerted uponspring 72 and thus flint is strongly forced against serrated edge 64.

When the timer cam wheel 86 is rotated in a counterclockwise directionthe cam follower 82 engages the circular portion of cam wheel 86 whichengages cam follower 82 and thus causes lever 78 to pivot about point80, and thus the force of spring 81 is overcome and the lever 78 isurged to the position shown in dotted lines. In this latter position thecompression upon spring 72 is relieved and thus the flint 70 is notpressed against the serrated edge 64, i.e., the lighter is deactivated.

The timer cam wheel 86 can be activated by a reset knob 54 identical inconstruction to the knob 54 used in the second embodiment and the timercan wheel 86 can be driven by a timer mechanism 34 such as is describedin either of the prior embodiments.

Similarly the amount of time during which the lighter is made inoperablecan be indicated by a time scale 36, a pointer 38 and a crystal asdescribed above.

A counter may be associated with the pointer 36 and time scale 38 of anyof the preceding embodiments to provide an indication of the number ofcigarettes smoked. Such a counter, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10 maycomprises a gear 92 which is mounted upon the shaft 37 which connectsthe pointer 38 to the time mechanism 34. The gear 92 is connected toshaft 37 by a one way drive clutch 94 so that when the pointer 38 isrotated counterclockwise, one increment for example, one minute, asshown in FIG. 8, the gear 92 is retated clockwise one increment. Acontinued rotation of shaft 37 will not, however, be passed by springclutch 94 to gear 92 and thus even if the pointer is moved from the zeroto the 60 minute mark the gear 92 will be indexed only a singleincrement. The toothed periphery of the gear 92 is in contact with thetoothed periphery of an indicator wheel 96 so that the indicator wheelis indexed in the opposite direction for any indexing of the gear 92.The indicator wheel 92 has the numbers of an arithmetic progressionstarting with the number one formed thereon in an annular region nearthe periphery of the wheel to indicate the number of times the timer hasbeen set and thus, indirectly, the number of times the lighter has beenused.

The numbers on the indicator wheel may be visible through the crystal 40discussed above or through a separate window in the lighters casing.

While the above description fully covers the preferred embodiment of theapplicants invention, many modifications to the invention are within thescope of the invention, thus for the full scope of the inventionreference should be made to the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanical cigarette lighter of the type requiring the operationof a mechanism precedent to the ignition of a spark, the improvementcomprising means contained within and cooperating with said lighter forrestraining the operation of said mechanism, a timing mechanismconnected to and controlling said restraining means and a setting meansconnected to and controlling and timing mechanism.

2. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 1 wherein said mechanismcomprises a flint striker lever and said restraining means comprises arod means abutting said flint striker lever at one end and, at its otherend, abutting the periphery of a wheel including a radially directedaperture on the periphery of a wheel being connected to said timingmechanism, for rotation about its axis in response thereto so that themovement of said flint striker lever is restrained when said rod meansabuts the periphery of said wheel when said wheel is in a first positionbut is not restrained when the peripheral aperture of said wheel isrotated into register with said rod means.

3. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 1 wherein said mechanismcomprises a hinged lid covering the fire producing portion of saidlighter and said restraining means comprises a tab projecting from aninterior wall of said lid and a wheel disposed adjacent said tab andincluding a peripheral flange having a slot therein, said wheel beingconnected to said timing mechanism for rotation about its axis inresponse thereto so that said tab is locked within said flange and thussaid lid is locked over said time producing portion when said wheel isin a first position wherein said flange overlaps said flange but saidtab is unlocked when said slot is rotated into register with said tab.

4. The cigaretee lighter as recited in claim 1 wherein said mechanismcomprises a spring for compressing a flint against a flint strikermeans, a plate against which said spring bears and said restrainingmeans comprises a lever bearing against said plate and means foradjusting the position of said lever for thereby relieving thecompression upon said spring.

5. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 4 wherein said adjustingmeans comprises a wheel having a cam surface on its periphery which ismounted for rotation, a timer for rotating said wheel, a cam followerconnected to said lever and means for urging said cam follower againstsaid cam surface.

6. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 1 further including meansfor indicating the setting applied to said timing mechanism by saidsetting means.

7. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 6 further including meansassociated with said indicating means for counting the number of timessaid setting means are utilized and for displaying a cumulative count ofsaid

1. In a mechanical cigarette lighter of the type requiring the operationof a mechanism precedent to the ignition of a spark, the improvementcomprising means contained within and cooperating with said lighter forrestraining the operation of said mechanism, a timing mechanismconnected to and controlling said restraining means and a setting meansconnected to and controlling and timing mechanism.
 2. The cigarettelighter as recited in claim 1 wherein said mechanism comprises a flintstriker lever and said restraining means comprises a rod means abuttingsaid flint striker lever at one end and, at its other end, abutting theperiphery of a wheel including a radially directed aperture on theperiphery of a wheel being connected to said timing mechanism, forrotation about its axis in response thereto so that the movement of saidflint striker lever is restrained when said rod means abuts theperiphery of said wheel when said wheel is in a first position but isnot restrained when the peripheral aperture of said wheel is rotatedinto register with said rod means.
 3. The cigarette lighter as recitedin claim 1 wherein said mechanism comprises a hinged lid covering thefire producing portion of said lighter and said restraining meanscomprises a tab projecting from an interior wall of said lid and a wheeldisposed adjacent said tab and including a peripheral flange having aslot therein, said wheel being connected to said timing mechanism forrotation about its axis in response thereto so that said tab is lockedwithin said flange and thus said lid is locked over said time producingportion when said wheel is in a first position wherein said flangeoverlaps said flange but said tab is unlocked when said slot is rotatedinto register with said tab.
 4. The cigaretee lighter as recited inclaim 1 wherein said mechanism comprises a spring for compressing aflint against a flint striker means, a plate against which said springbears and said restraining means comprises a lever bearing against saidplate and means for adjusting the position of said lever for therebyrelieving the compression upon said spring.
 5. The cigarette lighter asrecited in claim 4 wherein said adjusting means comprises a wheel havinga cam surface on its periphery which is mounted for rotation, a timerfor rotating said wheel, a cam follower connected to said lever andmeans for urging said cam follower against said cam surface.
 6. Thecigarette lighter as recited in clAim 1 further including means forindicating the setting applied to said timing mechanism by said settingmeans.
 7. The cigarette lighter as recited in claim 6 further includingmeans associated with said indicating means for counting the number oftimes said setting means are utilized and for displaying a cumulativecount of said number.